


on the hunt

by Darkfromday



Series: Arc-V Rare Pair Week 2018 [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: (no pun intended), Multi, Reiji is a pirate with Standards, Yuuya is the flashiest pirate on the high seas, Yuzu gets in deep with pirates, and my favorite thing I've written this year, it's all for a good cause though, saving my fics from the tumblr monster, the pirate AU no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 07:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16868572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkfromday/pseuds/Darkfromday
Summary: Yuzu is on a mission to save what's most precious to her.In order to accomplish that mission, shemayneed the help of some pirates—whether they want to help her or not.





	on the hunt

**Author's Note:**

> prompt day 05: "rumor"

For the third time that night, Hiiragi Yuzu checks her stolen compass.

She’s ready to throw it away after two near-brushes with death since she took it, but  _something_  tells her that it will lead her to whom she seeks. Eventually it will steer her right.

The ship she’s on sways and bumps the gangplank, and as it does the compass arrow swivels to keep pointing faintly northeast—toward the derelict warehouse the people of Poole all whisper about.

 _It’s now or never_.

Her prize is now resolute, and so is she. Yuzu slips off her ride with the smallest splash possible, swimming quickly to shore and the cover of some pathetically-shabby house. There’s barely time to pause and evaluate the best path across these outskirts, but it would be more suspicious to run pell-mell in the streets while dripping wet.

_Hmm. Maybe the roofs are close enough together…?_

Yuzu peeks down the street and—yes, the distance is manageable. The houses on this side of town have been crammed together to fit and segregate the poor, which is both cruel and convenient for her. Yuzu can, and  _does_ , huff and climb her way to the top of Shabby House A, back up and leap to the next structurally unsound rooftop, and the next, and the next. It’s a miracle she doesn’t fall through any of them on the way to her distant destination.

 _That, or my swordplay and stamina classes from childhood_.

But everything turns out fine in the end, and she’s able to drop into the warehouse’s second floor through a wide open window, silent as the grave. The compass even goes quietly nuts in her hands.

This place is meant to look common and disgusting to shake potential peacekeepers and other intruders. But even thirty more layers of dust and grime can’t dispel the rumors among the workers and the wealthy on Yuzu’s side of town—that one of the most famous pirates in the Seven Seas can be found here on occasion, forging new swords for his crew or sleeping off rum-comas.

Yuzu believes every whisper and it’s why she’s here.

 _I won’t turn back until I’ve found him and secured his help_.

Carefully, she tiptoes over the damp boards, moves to and down the stairs. Light and movement from the lower level draw her attention, and she slips behind a rusty old table to peek around—just in time.

A young man hums some creepy tune as he sharpens a sword with a crimson blade, pausing only briefly to nudge some of his bi-color Christmas hair back under his extravagant hat. Yuzu recognizes him as the Performer—a pirate so unpredictable that surviving an encounter with him on the seas is down to a coin toss. Skilled in acrobatics, brawling, petty theft and escaping custody—truly he is someone to be admired no matter which arm of the law one is nearer to.

Since  _she_  has slipped across the line of propriety and morality long ago, Yuzu feels justified in both standing in awe of him and doing whatever it takes to bend him to her cause. Including standing and moving to block the main exit.

“Sakaki Yuuya?”

He flinches; it takes him a small age to turn around and face her head on. But his words are almost cocky. “Occasionally I answer to that, yes. Among other things.”

“The  _other things_  is why I’m here,” Yuzu says bluntly.

“So you  _know_  whose tail you’re stepping on right now? Who you’re disturbing?”

“Performer, I need your help. I stowed away on a ship to find you, and I won’t leave here without you.”

Yuuya tilts his head so, so slowly. There’s a candle on the desk to light his work, and in its dim glow, the defender of the downtrodden looks a little sinister. This changes to  _seductive_  when he tilts his head again to look her up and down. Yuzu abruptly remembers that she’s only got one soaking wet layer on and flushes.

“Normally bedmates wait for me at the brothel,” he eventually says with a wink.

Yuzu insists, “I’m here for  _business_. Something that would help me and be profitable for you.”

“And what if I’m not interested?”

 _Shit_ , Yuzu thinks, checking the room surreptitiously again for exits. “That’s not an answer I’m prepared to accept.”

“First time for everything,” Yuuya says grandly.

 _Gods, the mouth on him_. In any other scenario Yuzu might have  _dragged_ someone so handsome and intellectually stimulating to the nearest brothel or bed herself. Here though, she knows nothing of the Performer’s more personal tastes or habits beyond hearsay. He might indulge her in name and then handcuff her to the bed, making sure as he escaped that they would never meet again. Losing him is not a chance she can take,  _at all_.

 _Time for Plan B_.

She pulls out the compass, lets it gleam and spin in the low light.

“Maybe you’ll be interested in this.”

 

Yuzu expects Yuuya to hum, or feign ignorance of his own misplaced possession—anything so a mysterious young woman doesn’t appear to have him at a disadvantage. What she  _does not_  expect is for him to draw the sword he’s been sharpening and advance on her.

“ _Where_  did you get that?!”

“So it  _is_  yours,” Yuzu half-taunts, but cautiously—her eyes dart about the room, searching this time for a weapon to commandeer. Her other hand holds the compass steady.

Yuuya’s gritted teeth gleam at her. “It  _is_  mine,” he confirms. “Nicked from me almost two weeks ago. You’ll return it, love, or lose the arm.”

“No. I think I’ll keep it as insurance—”

“It’ll  _en_ sure your death!” Yuuya snarls, and lunges.

Yuzu is ready now, though: she spotted a dull but trusty-enough sword resting near her hip, and brings it up now to parry the Performer’s furious first strike. Just like that, the fight is on.

She twirls, jabs at him and uses the old tables and trinkets in this place to her advantage, willing to toss or hold whatever will shield her and give her time to plan her next attack. The Performer is surprisingly adept with swords beyond maintaining them for his crew, as he slides and slashes just like Yuzu did the day she finally defeated her instructor.

Even so, it’s her who draws first blood—a small cut across his cheek that backs him up a bit, has him  _humming_  like he’s impressed with her.

 _Not that it would matter. Not that it does_.

“ _Well_  done! You’ve marked me. Guess you aren’t just a pretty face with pretty words.”

“ _Now_  will you listen to what I need?”

“Not before I get my compass back,” he insists, and then they’re back at it: trading parries, taunting form, pushing and shoving. It’s after one well-timed shove that Yuzu gasps, because Yuuya has taken advantage of that shove to stab her dangerously close to her abdomen.

_Shit. He’s serious about this compass._

_…All the more reason I can’t let him have it until_ I _have his aid_.

“I don’t like killing civilians,” Yuuya says. “Messy. Wasteful. But I’ve done things that fit both those categories before.”

 _So have I,_  Yuzu thinks, using his merciful pause to charge him. She’s lucky; the move startles him, meaning she can push him to the grimy ground and hold her shaky sword in his face after kicking away his own.

“Listen up,  _Yuuya_. You can help me of your own free will, or you can do it with a nice wound to match mine, but either way—”

 _Shing_.

“Either way,  _you_  will stop moving, or I will be helping the Performer carry your corpse.”

The blood still in Yuzu’s body turns to ice. There is someone at the back of her neck, holding her tight and pressing a blade there. It’s someone she’s also never formally met, but like Yuuya needs no introduction. He is another of the most feared pirates in the world, while also being one of the most respected in multiple circles. Smooth, analytical, wealthy beyond counting, the Royal Navy’s worst nightmare and, just now, holding her life in his hands.

“The Pirate Prince,” she whispers, raw with awe and despair.

“Indeed.” Akaba Reiji adjusts his hands so one is over Yuzu’s wound, pressing—protecting her  _and_  letting her feel the pain. His silky baritone vibrates almost directly into her ear from his lips, and he doesn’t hesitate to flex one of the reasons for his nickname.

“Drop your weapon and kick it away, and we’ll get to hug for a little longer.”

Yuzu drops her sword and kicks it with a snarl. She literally  _can’t_  resist his order. No one can, not once he does whatever it is he’s been gifted with by the cruel gods.

“I appreciate it,” Reiji says in the same voice he’d use for a dog not shitting on his ship, probably. “Now we can have a nice little talk. Stay where you are and I’ll retrieve your sword partner.”

The warm, steady bulk of him behind her disappears, moves around to her front. Yuzu can’t move now, so she has plenty of time to study the Prince as he ambles over to the Performer. Shiny hair the color of a standard sword; cold violet eyes said to rival the sea in turmoil; missing his blood-red monocle, but still wielding the wickedly-sharp custom purple blade he had used to threaten her; and a flamboyantly royal blue coat to rival Yuuya’s rust-red one. If the Performer is handsome, his rescuer is breathtaking. Yuzu’s just glad he hadn’t asked her not to breathe.

 _Wait_.

Now that she has time to think ( _and breathe, and bleed_ ), she can’t help but… be puzzled. Why is Akaba Reiji  _here_? How did he even know something was going on in this ratty old hideout? It doesn’t make sense on the surface.

Reiji kneels, offering his hand to Yuuya. The younger man is seemingly uncaring of their audience and gratefully accepts the lift up, grunting a bit.

“Thanks. But argh, why do you always come in when I’m getting my ass kicked?”

“There is no alternative,” Reiji responds, dryly. “You could start winning fights; perhaps then I’d re-evaluate my interventions.”

_“Hey!”_

Yuzu keeps her expression neutral.  _Now that I think about it…_  Just as there are rumors about the Performer’s schedule and habits and how to exploit them, there have also been whispers about the close company the Prince and the Performer keep. Two apparent opposites, attracting.

It shouldn’t be alluring, or cause envy. It is doing both.

Now the Prince has gently turned Yuuya’s cheek toward him and is examining the cut there, caressing the skin around it.

“This… will heal soon on its own. Are you injured anywhere else?”

“Just superficial stuff, and my pride.” Yuuya sighs. “This girl isn’t a pirate, but she’s  _good_. I almost considered helping her with whatever just because of that.”

Yuzu can’t keep quiet any longer at those flippant words.  _“Almost?!”_

And Reiji, fucking Akaba Reiji, glances over at her as though he’s forgotten he put her on pause. But his words are at least fair and measured. “I didn’t announce myself so you two would bicker further. This conflict was foolish, and now you will compromise.”

“ _Compromise?”_   Yuuya sputters. “This vixen marred my face!”

“And  _you_  nearly stabbed me in a vital organ!” Yuzu fires back, enraged, since _she’d_ been coming to  _talk peacefully_  and  _he_  had escalated—

“Children, hush,” Reiji orders. He looks too amused. “Yuuya, I will kiss your face better once we’re on my ship. And you will accept the lady’s deal in exchange for your compass back, so long as the aid requested is reasonable.”

“ _Fine_.”

“As for you, my dear… your name?”

“Hiiragi Yuzu.”

His eyes glint. “Yuzu.  _You_  will explain what it is you actually need from Yuuya, and then  _we_  will decide whether or not to help.”

_Finally!_

She makes him release her from the weird body-bind on principle before she starts telling her tale.

“I  _did_  steal your compass from that bar you got plastered in, Yuuya. Sorry, but I needed it to find you later. There’s a man—you don’t need his name yet—who’s threatened my life. He’s one of the most powerful figures in England. No one’s stood up to him and lived—not politicians, not pirates, and certainly not some slip of a girl he’s taken a fancy to.”

“…Understandable,” Reiji hums, at the same time Yuuya says “Yeah, you  _are_  fucking gorgeous.”

Yuzu doesn’t have the time to feel hot or fluttery. She still _does_ , on principle, but doesn't let the feeling linger long. She has to get this out, lance the boil.

“I’d thank you, but the one he’s after is my baby sister—I’ve just been threatened for being ‘in the way’. I’ve had to hide her away from him and his men, but it’s only a matter of time before he uses his minions  _or_  his money to find her and hurt her. The  _only_  way I can stop him is to take everything he has: his followers, his resources, and his life.”

Yuuya— _snorts_. And looks much friendlier all of a sudden. “All that and you just want us to fuck up a rich wanker to protect your sister’s virtue? I’d almost do that for free. Especially the robbing part.”

“That’s  _not_  all. I need him dead. He can’t be allowed to get his hands on her or me,  _ever_.”

Reiji steps forward, eyes on hers. “What does killing a man have to do with us, specifically? We are quite good at it, but we’re not the only ones with that trade out on the sea.”

Yuzu looks between the two—friends. Lovers.  _Something_. “I’ve… heard stories about your compass. That it can find you  _or_  any mystical item you seek.”

“The walls really  _do_  have ears,” Yuuya murmurs strangely. He approaches too, hand held out for his compass, and Yuzu relinquishes it in a gesture of goodwill. And because his hand is very warm and feels nice to touch, even for a second.

“My family’s tormentor is protected by some kind of magic—he can’t be fought head-on, only killed with magical aid. I’ve heard tell of a sword that can cut any foe, put any man in the ground, and I’ve already stole, seduced and killed to find out how it may be found. Now I aim to get  _your_  help to find it, and use it.”

The air is quiet. Reiji doesn’t speak, just nods. Yuuya does too. Yuzu is willing to bet pounds that they both know the man she fears, and why she needs  _that particular_  sword. That they don’t push shows that even pirates respect privacy on occasion.

“ _If_  we help you,” the Performer eventually ventures to ask, “what besides my compass do we get out of it?”

“Any riches I find. I don’t care about them, I just want the sword.”

“Seems unbalanced,” the Prince observes, “but that is on your own head. Yuuya, I will lend her my crew and sword arm. There’s little danger in it.”

“You mean there’s a  _ton_. Which you love, since you love rescuing damsels and kicking people’s asses, not necessarily always in that order. Yeah, all right Yuzu, if he’s in, I’m in. Scratch that, I’m  _definitely_  in.”

Relief overwhelms her—that and hope. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Yuuya warns. “Like I said before, you’re a good fighter for an Englishwoman, but if you’re messing with someone who’s such hot shit, you need to have the best sword  _and_  kick it up to pirate-level fighting. We’ve gotta train you!”

“ _We_  have to get her a change of clothes first,” Reiji corrects, and hooks one arm around Yuzu. Yuuya grumbles good-naturedly and supports her other side, and she’s on the move toward locations unknown before she even registers leaving the warehouse. Or maybe that’s less their speed and more the bleeding.

“Wh— _hey!_ Where are we—my clothes are—”

“Very seductive, but not practical,” Yuuya teases.

“We’re taking you to our ship,” Reiji explains in the meantime. “For the clothes and the wound, among other things. Don’t worry. If we were going to kill you, we’d have done it back there.”

“Thanks. I definitely feel better about you two flanking me now.”

The Prince smirks. “Relax, Yuzu. Think of this as a little pirate hospitality, and you didn’t even have to say  _parley_.”

It sounds ridiculous. Mad. Frightening, even. But Yuzu watches Yuuya and Reiji exchange smirks and gentle bickering as they look from her to each other and hold her closer between them, and she doesn’t feel afraid. She feels exhilarated. She is one step closer to the end of her journey to leave her family’s predator powerless and lifeless. That will be such a burden lifted.

And hell, maybe in the process she can get some swashbuckling in.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully part 1 of a miniseries to come much, much later!


End file.
